Bush Resolute: USA Will Remain In Iraq

THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. This
week terrorists launched a series of attacks in Iraq. Their
targets included police stations in Baghdad and Fallujah,
the headquarters of the International Red Cross, and living
quarters for the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad.
The majority of their victims were Iraqis working to rebuild
and restore order to their country, and citizens of other
nations engaged in purely humanitarian missions.

Some of
the killers behind these attacks are loyalists of the Saddam
regime who seek to regain power and who resent Iraq's new
freedoms. Others are foreigners who have traveled to Iraq to
spread fear and chaos, and prevent the emergence of a
successful democracy in the heart of the Middle East. They
may have different long-term goals, but they share a
near-term strategy: to intimidate Iraqis from building a
free government and to cause America and our allies to flee
our responsibilities. They know that a free Iraq will be
free of them, and free of the fear in which the ideologies
of terror thrive.

During the last few decades, the
terrorists grew to believe that if they hit America hard --
as in Lebanon and Somalia -- America would retreat and back
down. Five years ago, one of the terrorists said that an
attack could make America run in less than 24 hours. They
have learned the wrong lesson. The United States will
complete our work in Iraq. Leaving Iraq prematurely would
only embolden the terrorists and increase the danger to
America. We are determined to stay, to fight and to win.

The terrorists and the Baathists loyal to the old regime
will fail because America and our allies have a strategy,
and our strategy is working. First, we are taking this fight
to the enemy, mounting raids, seizing weapons and funds and
bringing killers to justice. One example is Operation Ivy
Focus, a series of aggressive raids by the Army's 4th
Infantry Division, that in a little over a month has yielded
the capture of more than 100 former regime members. In other
operations those soldiers have also seized hundreds of
weapons, thousands of rounds of ammunition and explosives,
and hundreds of thousands of dollars suspected of being used
to finance terror operations.

Second, we are training an
ever-increasing number of Iraqis to defend their nation.
Today, more than 90,000 Iraqis are serving as police
officers, border guards and civil defense personnel. These
Iraqi forces are also supplying troops in the field with
better intelligence, allowing for greater precision in
targeting the enemies of freedom. And we are accelerating
our efforts to train and field a new Iraqi army and more
Iraqi civil defense forces.

Third, we are implementing a
specific plan to transfer sovereignty and authority to the
Iraqi people. The Governing Council, made up of Iraqi
citizens, has appointed ministers who are responsible for
the day-to-day operations of the Iraqi government. The
Council has also selected a committee that is developing a
process through which Iraqis will draft a new constitution
for their country. When a constitution has been ratified by
the Iraqi people, Iraq will enjoy free and fair elections.

All these efforts are closely linked. As security
improves, life will increasingly return to normal in Iraq,
and more and more Iraqis will step forward to play a direct
role in the rebirth of their country. And as the political
process moves forward and more and more Iraqis come to feel
they have a stake in their countries future, they will help
to secure a better life for themselves and their children.

The terrorists and the Baathists hope to weaken our will.
Our will cannot be shaken. We're being tested, and America
and our allies will not fail. We will honor the sacrifice of
the fallen by ensuring that the cause for which they fought
and died is completed. And we will make America safer by
helping to transform Iraq from an exporter of violence and
terror into a center of progress and peace.

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